Climbing toy



Dec. 15, 1936. v |REN|US 7 2,064,119

CLIMBING TOY Original Filed May 22, 1934 INVENTOR Joseph V. frenzus BY2% r. w M

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES eArEN'r @FFIQE CLIMBING TOYporation of Ohio Application May 22, 1934, Serial No. 726,911 RenewedMay 11, 1936 9 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to the class oftoys in which the bodies of the toys simulate animate figures, and inwhich provision is made of mechanism actuated by a fiexible cord orcords, to produce a climbing effect of the body, and appropriatemovements of the limbs or other appendages of the figure, to enhance theillusion of animation.

A conventional form of actuating mechanism for the above purposeincludes what may be briefly designated as a difierential pulley,characterized by barrel or spool parts of different diameters, upon eachof which a cord is so Wound that when the cords are pulled in oppositedirections, the greater leverage of the cord on the spool of largerdiameter will wind upthe cord on the spool of less diameter and causethe figure to climb or approach bodily the end of the cord leading fromthe smaller spool. Upon release of 20 the tension on the cords, theweight of the figure causes the cord on the smaller spool to unwind andwinds up the cord on the larger spool.

In most of the conventional climbing toys of the above type, aconsiderable amount of sheet metal and/or solid wood structural elementshave been used, adding undesirably to the expense of the constructionand weight of the figure, and a general object of the present inventionis to provide such a climbing toy figure with an improved actuatingmechanism of the differentialpulley type, and an improved body structurein which the use of metal is confined substantially to the differentialspool and to the employment of easily bent wire suitably formed tosupport the actuating mechanism and afford desirable reinforcement toparts of the enclosing body which may be subjected to destructivedeformation in use.

A cognate object of the invention is to so organize the improvedactuating mechanism that the principal strains exerted in operation willbe borne by the metal wire part, so that the enclosing body structureand the limbs or other appendages may be formed of an inexpensivematerial such as cardboard, availing of recently perfected methods offabricating the component parts of toy figmes from such material.

These can be stamped out in standard dimensions and large quantitiesthus providing components which may be assembled readily by personshaving only an average amount of training and skill.

Another object of the invention is to provide actuating mechanism inwhich the oscillating arms, legs and other moving appendages derivetheir movement from a single continuously rotating cam disc, against theperiphery of which actuating levers of cardboard are held by the weightof the appendages, thus eliminating the use of the cranks and connectingrods conven- 5-5 tionally employed for this purpose and decreasing thepower required to produce the oscillatory motions.

These improvements make it possible to meet a presently growing demandfor climbing figure To toys upon a production basis running into manyhundreds of thousands annually, with the immediate employment ofnumerous operatives at good wages; and it is possible to sell theproduct at prices which are sufficiently high to'yield aeis fair profit,and are still Within a price range that can be sustained without killingthe market.

For several years the sale of the climbing figure toys has dwindledpractically to zero, on account of the inability of manufacturers toproduce 511011420 toys of conventional structure at a price satisfactoryto the market, although this class of toys ,is one that has an intrinsicappeal for children.

Other features of theinventio-n will be made to appear in theaccompanying drawing andz= specification, and will be pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of a climbing figure toy,representing the well-known character 730 Mickey Mouse in Person, thisbeing one illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on a medial plane parallelwith the sides of the animated figure.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in crosssection of the actuatingmechanism and associated working parts, taken on the irregular line 33of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction indicated-by the arrows at the end ofthe line, and 10 upon a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail View in vertical section taken on theirregular line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration anddescription, the part desig-45' nated generally by the character H] isthe body of a simulated animate figure, in this instance a mouse, madeup desirably by stamping or cutting out from relatively thin sheets ofordinary cardboard of good quality, the component parts of 50 thefigure, including side-pieces II and I2 forming the torso and head, acombined back and front'member 13, a pair of upper legs [4 joined by anintegral part I5, and a pair of lower legs I6 similarly joined by aseparately formed part I1.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the blankfor the upper leg set is scored, as at 8, in the cutting operation, andbent to final shape thereafter; also that mortises 20 and co-operatingtenons 2i are provided where necessary, and are fitted together as partof the assembling operation, this being, however, only a desirable andpreferred mode of construction, as it lends itself to the economicalfabrication of these toys.

Other parts of this body structure, and the details of their preferredformation, will be hereinafter described, as occasion arises, includingthe preferred means for mounting and actuating the legs, etc.

In pursuance of the general object of the invention, provision is madeof actuating mechanism of the differential pulley type, generallydesignated by the reference character 22, and embodying spool or barrelportions 23 and 24, of suitable material, preferably sheet metal, theformer being larger than the latter, the spools each being fitted with adished end flange, as at 25, 26, and a. medial flange, or cam 21, ofeccentric form being provided, embraced between the spools.

The differential pulley 22 has an axially disposed tubular journal orbushing 28, with oifset ends 29, to hold the parts together and addstrength thereto, and by means of the central bore 30, the pulley isjournalled rotatably on a wire support 3| which has an end 32 mounted inan eyelet 33 fitted in an aperture in the side piece H, the wire beingbent to form a loop 34 fitted snugly in a slot 35 in the side-piece l2,thereby being suitably supported to hold the pulley in place. The wireis therefrom extended at 36 (see Fig. 2) in arcuate form along, and inbracing contact with, the back wall l3 of the torso, and free end 31 ofthe wire protrudes to a considerable extent through a bottom orifice 38,constituting a tail, with a terminal queue 39.

This wire constitutes the element of chief structural rigidity of thetoy, affording a firm support for the differential spool at its axis ofrotation and also acts as a strut at both the central and dorsal regionssubjected to greatest collapsing tendency, and finally provides a strongtail piece, a projecting part which is ordinarily likely to be brokenoff in use, but should be desirably slender, to enhance the illusion ofanimate simulation. It serves also as a guide for the operating cord.

In pursuance of an important object of the invention, the legs, arms andsimilar appendages are actuated from the central cam 21 by a novelsystem of levers which serve also as pivotal supports for saidappendages, as will be seen best from Fig. 4.

The lever for the lower leg set is designated by the reference character4! and that for the upper set by the character 42. They are similar inshape and similarly mounted. and actuated, so that a description of thelever 4| will apply to both.

Each lever comprises a portion 43 extending transversely of the torsoand a portion 44 at right angles thereto. The portion 43 in each is ofsufficient length to extend through bearing apertures 45 (see Figs. 1and 2), of V-shape, provided for that purpose in the side members II andI2, and the ends 46 project outside of the torso and serve as tenons toenter suitable mortises 41 in the legs I 8, which are firmly unitedthereby to the lever 4| and consequently are united to each other. Thelegs l4 are similarly mounted on, and united by, the lever 42.

The integral projection or arm 44 of each lever is adapted to extendpast, and in contact with, the cam 21, so that when the cam is rotatedwith the pulley the shoulder 48 on the cam engages first one and thenthe other of the lever projections 44 and forces the same outwardly,tilting the levers in turn, and through them causing lifelike movementsof the leg sets.

It is to be noted that the fulcrum or pivotal axis on which the levers4! and 42 turn, as indicated by the reference character 49 in eachinstance, lies at the apex of each V-shaped slot 45, and the V-shapedslots are so positioned that the weight of each leg set tends to biasthe lever projections 44 constantly against the periphery of the cam 21.There is however no binding action, as the cam operates by slidingcontact only, so that the leg sets are desirably free in theiroscillating movements.

It is further to be noted that the levers, being made of relatively thinsheet material, preferably cardboard, for the sake of lightness andcheapness, act at this pivot point somewhat as does the knife-edgebearing of a pair of balances, and therefore develops but littlefriction. It is, of course, possible to make the levers of thin sheetmetal, or other thin material, if desired, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Before assembling the parts above described, the cord 50 will beattached suitably to the larger spool, as by inserting the inner end ofthe cord through a hole 5! in the flange 25, and knotting that end, thenwinding the cord upon the spool; similarly, the cord 52 will be securedto the flange 26 of the smaller spool but this cord will be simply ledup through suitable holes 53 in the torso and through a hole 54 in thetop of the head, without winding it on the spool 24.

The free end of cord 50 will be led downward and out of the body througha bottom hole 55 adjacent to, but preferably separate from, the hole 38through which the tail 31 extends, and each cord will be providedpreferably with a ring 55,.

through the feet, this being a departure from conventional practice.

As a result, it is much easier to cause the Winding up of cord 52 uponthe smaller spool by the leverage of the cord 50 on the larger spool, inthe usual way, and the rapid oscillating movements of the leg sets arevery lifelike.

The mortise and tenon joints, 28, 2!, such as those between the sidemembers I! and i2, and the back-and-front strip l3 which serves toconnect the side members together in a spaced relation, may desirably beformed as joints of exclusively frictional fixation, eliminating the useof adhesives and of dowels, cotter pins, or other metallic fasteners, infabricating the body of the toy and its appendages.

I claim:

1. A toy of the climbing figure type, characterized by a hollow body anda differential pulley provided with a flexible operating member woundupon said pulley and extending out from said body; said toy beingfurther characterized by a disc cam fixed co-axially upon said pulley,and having an eccentric periphery; a lever extending transversely ofsaid body and projecting at each end through the sides thereof, saidlever having an integral projection engaged peripherally with said camdisc; and appendages upon said projecting ends of the lever simulatinganimated members of said body, the body having V-shaped apertures toreceive said projecting lever ends, and in the apices of which V-shapedapertures said lever ends are fulcrumed to oscillate under the action ofsaid cam.

2. A toy of the climbing figure type, characterized by a hollow body anda differential pulley provided with a flexible operating member woundupon said pulley and extending out from said body; said toy beingfurther characterized by a disc cam fixed co-axially upon said pulley,and having an eccentric periphery; a lever extending transversely ofsaid body and projecting at each end through the sides thereof, saidlever having an integral projection extending past said cam disc; andappendages upon said projecting ends of the lever simulating animatedmember of said body, said appendages being so positioned as toconstitute gravity-biased means to maintain said lever part in yieldingengagement with said eccentric cam periphery.

3. A toy characterized by a body having a cavity provided with arotatable actuating mecha nism including a disc cam having an eccentricperiphery, said toy being further characterized by a fiat lever of sheetmaterial having a finger engaged with said cam periphery exclusivelyfrictionally, the ends of said lever projecting through bearings in saidbody in which said lever is adapted to oscillate when actuated byrotation of said cam; and appendages fixed on, and oscillated by, saidprojecting lever ends, being positioned to serve as gravity-biased meansto maintain said finger in yielding engagement with said cam periphery.

4. A toy characterized by the elements combined and co-operating as setforth in claim 3, and further characterized by having said hollow body,cam-disc, lever and appendages formed of cardboard.

5. A toy characterized by the elements combined and co-operating as setforth in claim 3, and further characterized by having said hollow body,cam-disc, lever and appendages formed of cardboard, the body comprisingseparately formed side and other body parts fitted together byexclusively frictionally fixed mortise-and-tenon joints, and saidappendages being fixed to said lever by similar joints.

6. In a toy of the class described, having a hollow body comprisingseveral side and other parts formed predominantly of light sheetmaterial such as cardboard, a rotatable actuating member having an axialbore, and a one-piece skeleton member of wire having one end fixed inone of the side members, and having an integral part extending acrossthe central cavity of said body and bent to form a loop seated in theopposite side member, thereby constituting a transverse strut for saidhollow body, and also forming a journal for said rotatable actuatingmember, said wire being bent at the region of said loop and extendingclose to and in a direction conforming with that of a portion of saidbody so as to constitute a supporting brace contiguous to a portion ofsaid body between, and spaced from, said sides, the free end of saidwire being extended out through an aperture in a wall of the strut forsaid hollow body, and also forming a journal for said rotatableactuating member, said wire being bent at the region of said loop andextending close to and in a direction conforming with that of a portionof said body so as to constitute a supporting brace contiguous to aportion of said body between, and spaced from, said sides, the free endof said wire being extended out through an aperture in a wall of thebody spaced from said rotatable member, to afford additional rigidity tothe combined body elements, and the extremity of said free end beingcurved to simulate a tail or like appendage, and terminating in a queue.

8. In a toy of the class described having a body formed predominantly oflight sheet material such as cardboard, with side members, and a curvedstrip intermediate said side-members, and serving as a spacer therefor,an actuating pulley having an axial bore, and a skeleton member of wirehaving one end fixed in one of the side members and an integral partextending across the central cavity of said body and bent to form a loopseated in the opposite side member, thereby constituting a transversestrut for said hollow body and also a journal for said pulley, said wirebeing bent at the region of said loop and extending close to and in adirection conforming with that of a portion of said body so as toconstitute a supporting brace contiguous to a curved portion of saidspacer strip, the free end of said wire being extended out through anaperture in a wall of the body spaced from said pulley, to affordadditional rigidity to the combined body elements.

9. A toy of the class described having a hollow body formedpredominantly of light sheet material such as cardboard, with side andother members fitted together with exclusively frictionally fixedmortise and tenon joints; actuating mechanism within said body; and aone-piece skeleton member of wire having one end fixed in one of theside members and an integral part extending across the central cavity ofsaid body and bent to form a loop seated in the opposite side member,thereby constituting a transverse strut for said hollow body and also asupport for said actuating mechanism, said wire being bent at the regionof said loop and extending close to and in a direction conforming withthat of a portion of said body so as to constitute a supporting bracespaced from said side members and contiguous to another body member,said wire serving to tie together the principal components of said toyand to afiord. additional rigidity thereto, sustaining the weightand-operating strains of said actuating mechanism.

JOSEPH V. IRENIUS.

